


Fire not required

by Queens_Prerogative



Series: Now that we found you, you can't just disappear [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Carlos is a good brother, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Reggie is brief but he's there, very short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:46:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28364121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queens_Prerogative/pseuds/Queens_Prerogative
Summary: Carlos wasn’t stupid. He was the top of his class. He had figured out there were ghosts (ignoring the whole chef/dip incident). So, when the ghosts came back to life and everyone had weird memories that hadn’t been there before, he got suspicious. He and Julie sat down with Alex, Reggie, and Luke and got the full story. It was a stressful situation, so he could forgive them for not noticing everything. But demons weren’t a good thing! They’d probably got themselves into a stupid deal and they’d go to Hell. Dios mío, not good.Or:Carlos isn't convinced that demons are a good thing. So, he summons Katherine to make sure there weren't any "All Sales Final" incidents when she met the boys at the Hollywood Ghost Club.
Series: Now that we found you, you can't just disappear [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028221
Kudos: 19





	Fire not required

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Got inspired to write this very short part of the series because Carlos is awesome and the best brother. He just wants to make sure everyone is safe.

Carlos wasn’t stupid. He was the top of his class. He had figured out there were ghosts (ignoring the whole chef/dip incident). So, when the ghosts came back to life and everyone had weird memories that hadn’t been there before, he got suspicious. He and Julie sat down with Alex, Reggie, and Luke and got the full story. It was a stressful situation, so he could forgive them for not noticing everything. But _demons_ weren’t a good thing! They’d probably got themselves into a stupid deal and they’d go to Hell. _Dios mío,_ not good.

So, Carlos did what he did best. He researched. He had to use so many incognito windows, and dodge some pretty questionable forums, but he got it done. When Julie and the boys were practicing (and would be for hours), and his dad went out on a job, he seized his opportunity.

He hadn’t been able to get hold of the whacky ingredients that most demons apparently responded to, so he’d had to get creative with alternatives. What he’d basically ended up with was a pentagram drawn on the coffee table in whiteboard marker, and five candles lit _very_ carefully. Most websites had said chanting in Latin would do the trick or offering blood, neither of which he was going to do. He needed a very specific demon, so he burned a bit of Luke’s Caleb-conjured outfit from the Night at the Orpheum. It _stank._

After five minutes, he guessed it hadn’t worked. He used his sigh to blow out the candles then turned for the kitchen. He’d need a cloth to wipe down the table.

“GAH!” He nearly toppled backwards over said table. His heart was going really fast – that wasn’t healthy, right? The woman in the archway smirked a little. She was tall, _really_ tall, and black, and terrifying. When demons had been mentioned, Carlos had thought there would be dark robes, maybe a suit. She was in bright turquoise.

“You’re a little younger than my usual clientele,” she said. She wandered further in and wrinkled her nose. “Why does it smell like burning underwear?”

“I – I burned some fabric.”

“Why?”

“I thought it would get a specific person here?” He knew he sounded like he was asking rather than telling. The demon was making him feel uncomfortable. “Are you Katherine?”

“Yes. Who are you?”

“Carlos Molina.” She grinned and it completed transformed her face. His discomfort vanished.

“For future reference, you don’t need to burn anything. If you’ve got someone specific in mind, that’s enough.” He shifted with her movements.

“Ok.” He wasn’t planning to summon demons again, but good to know.

“So,” she said, sitting in an armchair, “What’s this about?”

“You, uh, brought three ghosts back to life. Did they sell their souls to you?” Katherine giggled. It sounded like Carrie before she’d become evil incarnate. He shakily sat on the sofa.

“There was no soul-selling. They’re meant to be here.”

“But why were _you_ there?”

That’s what bugged him the most. The angel – Amos – was a jerk, from what Carlos had heard, but he was still the angel. If demons were involved, that didn’t exactly scream “safe” to him.

“Sorry, kid, business is private and confidential.”

“You just said-.”

“That I had no business with the boys.” Her left eyebrow was nearly a chevron. He felt like she was trying to send him a message but he didn’t – ah.

“You had business with someone else.” What had Alex said about that night? Something about consent being important . . . because Katherine had removed their marks. The marks that Caleb gave them. “Caleb made a deal with you.”

“You are a clever one.” She was smirking again, but it was the kind of smirk his mom used to give him when he’d played a really cheeky but smart prank. “I found the boys because Caleb got greedy, but they hold no interest for me.”

“I thought demons were supposed to be evil,” he said. Well that seemed stupid. Why did he have to go and say that?

“What makes you think I’m not evil?” she asked as if they were talking about the weather.

“You didn’t try to make a deal with them. And you made Caleb release them. And I’m pretty sure you had something to do with Willie.”

Willie had been Alex’s ghost not-boyfriend, who Julie and the ex-phantoms met a few days ago as an alive person. He didn’t remember like everyone else, but him and Alex seemed pretty okay with that. There hadn’t been an explanation for his sudden reappearance. Until now.

“When someone makes a deal with a demon, they’re usually doing it to obtain something that they can’t, don’t, or won’t have. That then means their soul is tied to Hell. However, it doesn’t mean they _go_ to Hell.” Carlos thought about that so hard he gave himself a headache.

“Unfinished business doesn’t exist.”

“Correct.”

“So . . . Caleb chose to be a ghost? And he’s tied to you?” Katherine didn’t say anything which, okay, fair. She did say it was private. “Is that a demon trick?”

“Carlos, are you accusing me of deceiving people into making deals?”

“That’s what demons do!” Or so he’d read, anyway. His Tía would freak if she heard about this.

“Consent given on misinformation is not consent. It isn’t inferred or implied; it’s explicit. Demons don’t thrive on distorted truth, we thrive on corruption and the occasional loophole.” She tilted her head. “We spell everything out for people. If they agree, that says more about them than it does about us.”

“Huh.” He couldn’t think of anything else. This was crazy.

“Was that all?”

“Did you bring Willie back?”

“What part of “private and confidential” do you not understand?”

“Aha! You made a deal with him!”

“No, I didn’t. I have no deal with or interest in Willie.”

“But then-.”

“What’s life without a little mystery? You don’t have to know everything.” She rose up from the armchair. “Anything else?”

“Uh – no. Thank you.”

“No problem, little Molina. It’s been a pleasure.” He blinked and she was gone.

“Hey, buddy.” Carlos squealed, jumped and whirled around. Reggie was grinning at him from the archway and _oh dear he hadn’t cleaned the coffee table._ “We’re taking a break. You want to join?”

“Yeah, sure, yeah. I’ll be right there!” Reggie saluted and skipped back to the kitchen. Carlos glanced around the living room and gaped. The coffee table was squeaky clean; no pentagram, no candles, and the smell had vanished too.

Maybe demons weren’t _so_ bad.


End file.
